RES/36/14 Human rights and indigenous peoples

GE.17-17797(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-sixth session

11–29 September 2017

Agenda item 3

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 28 September 2017

36/14. Human rights and indigenous peoples

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling all relevant General Assembly, Commission on Human Rights and Human

Rights Council resolutions on human rights and indigenous peoples,

Reaffirming its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 61/295 of 13

September 2007,

Recognizing that, for the past 10 years, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights

of Indigenous Peoples has influenced positively the drafting of several constitutions and

statutes at the national and local levels and contributed to the progressive development of

international and domestic legal frameworks and policies as it applies to indigenous

peoples,

Appreciating the current efforts towards the promotion, protection and fulfilment of

the rights of indigenous peoples, recalling the commitment made by the General Assembly

at the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples to consider ways to enhance the

participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives and institutions in meetings of relevant

United Nations bodies on issues affecting them, and welcoming resolution 71/321, adopted

by the Assembly on 8 September 2017,

Recalling the adoption in September 2014 of the outcome document of the high-

level plenary meeting of the General Assembly known as the World Conference on

Indigenous Peoples,1

Taking note with appreciation of the study of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights

of Indigenous Peoples on the theme “Good practices and challenges, including

discrimination, in business and in access to financial services by indigenous peoples, in

particular indigenous women and indigenous persons with disabilities”, submitted to the

1 General Assembly resolution 69/2.

Human Rights Council at its thirty-sixth session,2 and encouraging all parties to consider

the examples of good practices and recommendations included in the study as practical

advice on how to attain the end goals of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples,

Taking note with appreciation also of the report of the Expert Mechanism entitled

“Ten years of the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples: good practices and lessons learned — 2007-2017”,3

Stressing the need to pay particular attention to the rights and special needs of

indigenous women, children, young people, elderly persons and persons with disabilities

and to intensify efforts to prevent and eliminate violence and multiple and intersecting

forms of discrimination in this regard, as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the outcome document of the World Conference,

Recalling the adoption of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989

(No. 169) by the International Labour Organization, and its important contribution to the

promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples,

1. Welcomes the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights on the rights of indigenous peoples,4 and requests the High Commissioner to

continue to submit to the Human Rights Council an annual report on the rights of

indigenous peoples containing information on relevant developments in human rights

bodies and mechanisms and the activities undertaken by the Office of the High

Commissioner at Headquarters and in the field that contribute to the promotion of, respect

for and the full application of the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and follow-up on the effectiveness of the Declaration;

2. Also welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous

peoples, including the official visits made and her reports, and encourages all Governments

to respond favourably to her requests for visits;

3. Further welcomes the work of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples, and the report on its tenth session,5 and its intersessional activities,

including the intersessional meetings held in Ottawa and in Khanti-Mansi Autonomous

Okrug – Yugra, Russian Federation, in March 2017;

4. Encourages States to participate actively in the sessions of the Expert

Mechanism and to engage in dialogue with it, including during its intersessional activities;

5. Notes that the next study of the Expert Mechanism, to be finalized by its

eleventh session, will focus on the theme of free, prior and informed consent as reflected in

the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

6. Welcomes the proposal by the Expert Mechanism to the Human Rights

Council that further efforts be made to facilitate the participation of indigenous peoples’

representatives and institutions in the work of the Council, in particular the dialogue with

the Expert Mechanism and the Special Rapporteur and in the annual half-day discussion on

the rights of indigenous peoples, and also welcomes the encouragement of the General

Assembly to the relevant United Nations bodies, in accordance with their respective rules

of procedure, to facilitate the participation of indigenous peoples’ representatives and

institutions in relevant meetings on issues affecting them;

2 A/HRC/36/53.

3 A/HRC/36/56.

4 A/HRC/36/22.

5 A/HRC/36/57.

7. Decides, in accordance with paragraph 14 of Human Rights Council

resolution 18/8 of 29 September 2011, that the theme of the annual half-day panel

discussion on the rights of indigenous peoples to be held during the thirty-ninth session of

the Council will be on the means of participation for and the inclusion of indigenous

peoples in the development of strategies and projects, and the implementation of those

projects in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related Goals,

and requests the Office of the High Commissioner to make the discussions fully accessible

to persons with disabilities, and to prepare a summary report on the discussion and to

submit it to the Council prior to its forty-first session;

8. Encourages States to give due consideration to the rights of indigenous

peoples and the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by indigenous

peoples and individuals in fulfilling the commitments undertaken in the 2030 Agenda and

in the elaboration of relevant international and regional programmes, as well as national

action plans, strategies and programmes, applying the principle of leaving no one behind;

9. Encourages the Special Rapporteur, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous

Issues and the Expert Mechanism to strengthen their ongoing cooperation and coordination

and ongoing efforts to promote the rights of indigenous peoples and the United Nations

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the follow-up to the World

Conference, and invites them to continue to work in close cooperation with all Human

Rights Council mechanisms within their respective mandates;

10. Reaffirms that the United Nations treaty bodies are important mechanisms for

the promotion and protection of human rights, and encourages States to give serious

consideration to their recommendations, including those regarding indigenous peoples;

11. Welcomes the contribution of the universal periodic review to the realization

of the rights of indigenous peoples, encourages effective follow-up to accepted review

recommendations concerning indigenous peoples, and invites States to include, as

appropriate, information on the situation of the rights of indigenous peoples, including

measures taken to pursue the objectives of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples during the review;

12. Encourages States that have endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples to adopt measures to pursue its objectives in consultations

and cooperation with indigenous peoples;

13. Calls upon States that that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Indigenous

and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) of the International Labour Organization to

consider doing so;

14. Welcomes the role of national human rights institutions established in

accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the

promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) in advancing indigenous

issues, and recognizes the importance for such institutions of developing and strengthening

their capacities, as appropriate, to fulfil that role effectively;

15. Encourages States, according to their relevant national context and

characteristics, to collect and disseminate data disaggregated by ethnicity, income, gender,

age, race, migratory status, disability, geographic location or other factors, as appropriate,

in order to monitor and improve the impact of development policies, strategies and

programmes aimed at improving the well-being of indigenous peoples and individuals, and

to combat and eliminate violence and multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination

against them;

16. Welcomes the agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of

Women adopted at its sixty-first session, in which the Commission called for measures to

be taken to promote the economic empowerment of indigenous women, including by

ensuring access to quality and inclusive education and through meaningful participation in

the economy by addressing the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and

barriers they face, including violence, and to promote their participation in relevant

decision-making processes at all levels and in all areas, while respecting and protecting

their traditional and ancestral knowledge, and noting the importance for indigenous women

and girls of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and

encourages States to give serious consideration to the above-mentioned recommendations,

as appropriate;

17. Also welcomes the proclamation by the General Assembly that 2019 will be

the International Year of Indigenous Languages,6 and encourages States to participate

actively in the organization and implementation of activities relating to the International

Year and to uphold the spirit of the International Year by taking measures to promote and

protect the right of indigenous peoples to preserve and develop their languages;

18. Notes the activity of the United Nations Indigenous Peoples Partnership and

the system-wide action plan for ensuring a coherent approach to achieving the ends of the

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and invites States and

other potential donors to support it;

19. Urges States and invites other public and/or private actors or institutions to

contribute to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples as an important

means of promoting the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide and within the United

Nations system;

20. Decides to continue its consideration of this question at a future session in

conformity with its annual programme of work.

39th meeting

28 September 2017

[Adopted without a vote.]

6 See General Assembly resolution 71/178.